Community
Conversations
Without question, the community has also benefited. The success of “Our Town”
spurred on several more community theater productions with Boone at the helm,
which have served to create a space for important community conversations.
One of those was “Hoodie: Between Black and White,” a multi-media
presentation at the Shaker Main Library this past February. The piece was
commissioned by the Library as part of the Library’s contribution to the Center
for Arts-Inspired Learning’s NEA Big Read project... the Center for Arts-Inspired
Learning’s NEA Big Read project. It was inspired by Claudia Rankine’s book,
Citizen: An American Lyric. Says Boone, “Sometimes when people see a young
person in a hoodie they think this is someone they need to fear or avoid, rather
than seeing the person underneath.” The performance featured Shaker architect
Robert Madison, Leon Bibb, community members, and students from Shaker
Heights High School and MyCom, an organization that connects youth with
employment opportunities.
An open and honest community discussion led by Sonia Winlock and
Shaker Library’s community engagement librarian Gabriel Venditti, followed the
performance. The discussion focused on how to avoid microaggressions – hostile
or negative messages targeted toward members of a marginalized group.
Boone also directed a theatrical performance of “The Meeting,” a
fictional conversation between Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
presented by the Shaker Arts Council. It starred Peter Lawson Jones as
Malcolm X and Greg White as Martin Luther King, Jr., and was held at Heights
Christian Church – a significant venue given that Dr. King spoke on the steps
of the church when he visited Shaker Heights in 1965. She later helped to
produce and direct “Conversations in Courage: The Visit,” a documentary film
about his visit to Shaker.
40 SUMMER 2019 | WWW.SHAKER.LIFE
During her
years with
The Play House,
Boone often found
herself lingering in
the theater after
hours, watching the
directors at work
with their casts.
The cast of “Hoodie: Between Black and
White.” Photo courtesy of Monica Boone.
/WWW.SHAKER.LIFE